Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
AN 11-YEAR-OLD BOY with special needs had to be driven home by the school staff to use a toilet when there weren’t enough special needs assistants in his school to bring him to the bathroom.
The mother of the 5th class student at St Munchin’s CBS in Limerick has also been called to the school to assist in bringing the boy to the bathroom during the school day.
The 11-year-old, who is in a wheelchair, has dyspraxia, ADHD, scoliosis, hypermobile joints, and Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. He has access to a special needs assistant (SNA) who currently also looks after four other pupils in the school.
The Special Needs Parents Association said that no 11-year-old should have to deal with the situation the student is currently facing.
“[He] is well aware of his disabilities and the constraints of the environment around him which further compound the personal challenges he already has to face, and no 11-year-old should have to deal with that which can be avoided with proper resources,” said spokesperson Lorraine Dempsey.
The mother of 11-year-old Darragh Hogan has to “put her life on hold expecting her phone to ring at any point during the school day,” the Association said. On one occasion, two staff members of the school drove the primary school student home to go to the bathroom.
The problem is compounded by the inaccessibility of the toilets in the school for a wheelchair, the Association said.
The government capped the number of SNAs at 10,575 in July last year, angering many parents, children and teachers who protested that the current SNA allocations are too low.
Climate change. Any bad weather is a direct result of global warming / climate change
@Christopher Byrne: Was It global warming that caused the flooding over a century ago or was it just a freak storm?
@Slippy ❤️: sarcasm mate…sarcasam. I live in Perth and we’ve has the coldest winter in the 6+ years I’ve lived here but Ive no doubt it will be reported as the hottest on record
@Christopher Byrne: higher average global temperatures result in more moisture in the atmosphere which makes storm systems powerful. So yes the strength of this storm was added today b the fact that GLOBAL temperatures are rising. Weather is a global system, it doesn’t care if it’s been cold in Australia lately. Some models suggest that Europe might actually get colder over the coming decades as a result of GLOBAL average temperatures rising if it continues.
@M: Yes, climate models. Very reliable they’ve proven to be….We can’t predict weather reliably 2 weeks in advance but we’re supposed to believe in these models forecasting 30 years down the track as gospel. Despite the fact most if not all of them have failed to accurately predict the future
@Christopher Byrne:
I think you’ve been living in the colonies for too long….mate.
@Tweed Cap: wow I don’t know how to even begin talking to you when you say something as clueless as that . climate is not the same thing as weather. Are you saying that releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere will not cause global temperatures to rise? …Why not?
@Christopher Byrne: don’t stray too far from home you’ll fall off the edge of the earth
@Christopher Byrne: I love listening to people who have read some articles and now know it all. Just proves studying and practicing science is a waste of time, we just need an opion
@Christopher Byrne: isn’t winter 2 months away yet? Also weren’t there record highs recorded in summer in parts of Oz? Also, true or false, don’t parts of Oz have a monsoon season and isn’t this just an extreme version of that?
@Dave O Keeffe: No, on all counts
@Boganity: I think you’ll find you’re incorrect on all points. Australian winter is our summer months. They had record temperatures over Christmas, and there is indeed a monsoon season in parts of Australia.
have your say